seppoman

Hi, thanks :) Yes I did. The menu encoders function is already provided by MB SID. Modifications were necessary for the "Performance Mode" - I changed both the OSC and ENV encoders to have only two mode settings. Both are switched with the button at the same time from menu encoder mode to the custom layer. Another modification was necessary because normally you need the buttons to select and use the Name edit and SAV menu. Last some modification was necessary for the direct menu access buttons, see http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1101114495 If someone wants the complete firmware, just PM me your eMail adress and I´ll send it to you. Seppoman

Hi bosone, sorry again for the long delay - here are the required modifications: you need to change cs_menu_buttons.inc - here´s a part of my routine: [...] CS_MENU_BUTTON_M_E2 ;; change to SAV menu movlw CS_MENU_SAV rcall CS_MENU_BUTTON_Hlp_MenuChange goto CS_MENU_BUTTON_MenuChange_End ;CS_MENU_BUTTON_M_L1 ; ;; change to MAIN page ; goto CS_MENU_EXEC_GoToMain CS_MENU_BUTTON_MenuChange_End ;; set page offset and cursor pos movlw 0x00 movwf CS_MENU_PAGE_OFFSET movwf CS_MENU_CURSOR_POS bsf CS_STAT, CS_STAT_MODIFY_PARAMETER ; clrf CS_MENU_SELECTED_OSC_CTRL ; OSC_CTRL and ENV_CTRL are used for the Performance mode of the Brat ; clrf CS_MENU_SELECTED_ENV_CTRL ; Preformance mode is cleared when a menu function is selected ; rcall CS_MENU_LED_Update ; necessary to indicate end of performance mode goto CS_MENU_EXEC_Hlp_ChangeMenu ; deselect parameter [...] As you only need one new button, you can leave out the commented lines and put the MenuChange_End routine directly to the selected button routine, e.g. CS_MENU_BUTTON_M_E2 ;; change to SAV menu movlw CS_MENU_SAV rcall CS_MENU_BUTTON_Hlp_MenuChange ;; set page offset and cursor pos movlw 0x00 movwf CS_MENU_PAGE_OFFSET movwf CS_MENU_CURSOR_POS bsf CS_STAT, CS_STAT_MODIFY_PARAMETER goto CS_MENU_EXEC_Hlp_ChangeMenu ; deselect parameter [...] You can use any other button that is not needed by you. the Mod-Matrix buttons will surely not be used in a StebB interface. I hope I didn´t forget any other necessary change - it´s already a few months since I modified the software. Just try it out and tell me if it works :) Seppoman

Hi all, I also thought of this solution for the "Brat" but discarded it cause this has the effect that with half the encoders you´d have your hand over the display when sitting straight before the box - and I also didn´t like the looks of it. BTW Thorsten: my panel is also only 2U, there´s no space problem with two rows of encoders. Especially when there are only 8 encoders, there´s really plenty of space available. The display of course must be mounted as high as possible. Only problem would be that you´d have to move the shortcut button somewhere else. Anyway - a very promising project :) I´ll have to buy a new rack soon to have space for all these MBHP thingies ;) Seppoman

I´m not quite sure (long long ago ;)) but I think you can´t use 1.2MB IBM disks. 360k (DD) disks work fine, I have about 50 of them. If you want to use both sides you have to cut a second "write enable" hole into the other rim. Years ago some apparatus to do this was sold, now just use a nail scissor. Seppoman

Thank you all for your comments :) I bought them from http://www.buerklin.de, order number 24H4252/24H4256. Buerklin normally sells only to commercial customers, but they have a store here in Duesseldorf where nobody asks about a commercial license. The knobs are from Mentor, Type 521/523, don´t know if you can get them somewhere else. Seppoman

Didn´t work ;) Right, just jump into the water and have fun :) There´s nothing to be afraid of - this is no nuclear reactor :) Worst thing that can happen is that it won´t work on the first try. The forum is there to help you then. Of course some planning will be necessary at some point, but Thorsten has created a very stable and well-thought system so you don´t have to worry too much. The modular approach helps to keep things simple. Just build a core module, you´ll need it in every case. I don´t know Traktor, but looking at the previous traktor controllers I assume you need a DIN and an AIN module (the later for the faders). The cost for these things is very moderate. Now you can start to experiment: buy a few switches, pots, faders or whatever you like, connect them, explore the possibilities of the system. Take a piece of card board, cut holes in it and put the switches on it. This way you can find out what controls are needed for your purpose, and what layout of the surface suits you best. When it comes to the case/front panel, some considerations are due - if you build everything by hand it´s a lot of work, and if you order the panel from e.g. Schaeffer, the cost is significant. So in both cases you need to be certain what you want or you´ll waste quite some time or money. This is absolutely sufficient. Just take your time and do one step after the other. If you think some practice with soldering is necessary, you could build some simple kits as said before. Don´t know which country you´re from - here in Germany Conrad sells quite a lot, ranging from simple LED running light thingies, small 5 W amplifiers etc.. Search google for soldering guides, I´m sure there´s dozens of pages with explanations and photos of how to solder. Instead of kits you could also buy a larger piece of bread board and a pack of resistors (100 pieces/1-2 Euros/Dollars) and solder all to this board. You won´t get something useful, but it´s really cheap to get some practice. When the solder points start looking better, buy kits for a core and DIN/AIN module and some switches. A cheap LCD would be good (e.g. from eBay) because you can directly see what´s happening and don´t need to interpret strange MIDI messages :). Build the core module and connect the LCD - after some soldering practice this should be possible in max. one week of your schedule. So after some weeks you can get the first feelings of success and start exploring what is possible and what is needed. This is the real fun :) Just try not to think about too many things at once and everything will clear up with time. Perhaps Thorsten should put a "don´t panic" sign on the home page like on the cover of Hitchhiker´s Guide to the Galaxy ;) Alright, peace, love and happiness :) :) Seppoman

Thank you... :-* I admit the content of my posting was less hidden behind irony and/or politeness than some others, but there´s no need to get insulting. funny - you accuse people of being arrogant and in the next sentence tell not just me but the whole MB community they are strange nerds... Justin (and others) already wrote about "learning by doing" etc. so I´ll skip that part. This whole thread definitely is not about anyone not wanting newbie questions on the forum. But it´s simply better to discuss problems when they occur, and not two years before so you don´t even know now if there will be a problem... If you take half of the time you spend writing forum posts for building a few small commercial electronic kits for practice and afterwards for a MBHP core module you´ll have finished that in 2 months. Even someone without too much electronics experience can build a core module on one weekend. Then we´d have a basis to discuss problems and what to do about housing etc. just read the last paragraph of my previous post again, this is not the topic. One good thing about the MB community is that normally we don´t need blacklists... Seppoman

Hi Roger, from this post: http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1093042232;start=3#3 I supposed a station with 6 programs, including radio dramas etc. and especially with few compression, must be "öffentlich-rechtlich" :) Best, Sherlock ;)

Hi bosone, this should be no problem, especially when its "only" a Step B surface. Perhaps you´ve seen my "Der Brat" at MB of the week. There I simply reused handlers for other CS buttons that were not needed by me and set a "deroute" to the various menu pages. Now I´ve got no time but I´ll look up the necessary changes later today :) Seppoman

Hi all, I don´t have "professional monitoring" at home, just a very good HiFi - B&W Preference 6 with a Camtech/Audiolab V102 amp. These are very precise for HiFi systems but of course no studio monitors. Nevertheless in my opinion a mix that doesn´t sound good here doesn´t sound good on most other systems. For cutting at home I often use my AKG K240 headphones. At university we have some Genelec, K&H and Geithain (sp?) systems. I confess I´m also from the anti-Genelec league. I just don´t have fun listening to music through Genelecs. Strange argument for an audio engineer, I know, but if I don´t like what I hear when listening to top recordings I´ll never like what I mix myself. Surely you can identify technical mistakes very well on them, but they are so agressive and annoying (and especially the smaller ones are totally overpriced). Ok this was my part in the religious war ;) ME Geithain builds very good monitors - if you want to spend some money definitely listen to them. Some students from university bought them - the company is located somewhere in Thüringen (Germany), you can visit them and listen to everything, they are very friendly and helpful and also give (inofficial) student discounts. But even then they´re still a bit pricey (starting at about 1000 Euros). I once listened to Adam monitors at the Tonmeistertagung. They have really extreme high frequencies that sound very unnatural IMHO. Possibly PA people like them after hanging around unprotected on rock concerts for 20 years... ;) If you´re searching cheap monitors, try out Alesis M1! Of course I wouldn´t install them above a SSL desk, but they make really good sound for the money (active _pair_ costs less than one single Genelec 1029 and sounds much better - oops, stop the war ;)) Seppoman P.S. Everything highly subjective of course. And I´m still a student and have way less experience than someone who´s been commercially working for years in this business (Roger, some other post from you sounded like you work for the DRS - just guessing?)

Thank you :) You are right, the case is mostly air inside ;) Actually I built the "Brat" for a friend who is not into electronics but badly wanted a MB SID (don´t worry, I´ll take care of any support myself :)) He didn´t want to spend too much money and doesn´t need 4 SIDs - and it was also less work for me. Instead he had many good suggestions regarding design and user interface and forced me into some nights of programming ;). I will be rebuilding my original (quad) MB SID to be the great brother of this baby ´cause I like this user interface so much :) And probably build another "Brat" for myself ´cause it really hurts to give it away :'( Seppoman

Hi JS, the DIN_X4 is commonly referenced as "the DIN module" because it´s the only version you can get a PCB for. For a DIN_X1..3 you have to use bread board or etch your own PCB. You can connect 8 buttons or 4 encoders to one shift register (chip), so a DIN_X4 is needed for 32 buttons/16 encoders. Seppoman

it´s not too difficult. The logo is mounted with kind of a soft double sided glue tape. You just have to get under it somewhere. I used a small screw driver and pushed it on the plastic frame near the logo till there was a scar deep enough to get the screwdriver under the logo. Then lift the sign off carefully. It can get bent a little (it´s made of metal)... Seppoman

Hi Shed, the panel was made by Schaeffer, they engraved the characters. The Commodore signs are original C64, I let Schaeffer make .8mm deep areas the same shape beneath them. Seppoman

Hi Moebius, I´m really glad I´m not the only one being annoyed by certain newbie feelings... yesterday night I bit my tongue being not sure if the anger came from me being drunk ;) The idea of creating some how-tos that explain the single projects is certainly good - I think everyone of us spent some time at the beginning sorting out e.g. which modules are needed for what, what features and controls their own boxes need etc. So these documents could at least help reduce some FAQ traffic in the forum. On the other side: There are quite a number of people on this forum that have successfully built their MidiBoxes, so the existing docs can´t be THAT bad and incomplete. ALL necessary schematics are on uCapps. Every project has its page with detailed description of what you can do with it and what modules are needed. You can even buy cheap kits with all needed parts from Smash or Mike/Claudia. You don´t have to build on bread board or etch your own PCBs. This is quite a service for a DIY project! The forum search helps a lot sorting out any remaining questions. How to fix switches/encoders to the case? Hundreds of pictures are e.g. in the Midibox-of-the-week gallery where you can get some ideas from. The MBHP is DIY !!! DO IT YOURSELF !!! This is a good thing !!! You can decide yourself how your box will look, what buttons are on it etc. You can build boxes for Traktor control, for NI B4, for Logic or whatever. This is a feature, not a bug ;) Being this flexible, there can´t possibly be a single right way to happiness - or a single description "How to Build a MidiBox". When people come here, "demand" the community has to write extensive docs suiting their needs, threatening to post hundreds(!) of newbie questions for two years before even switching on the iron for the first time, I can only say: It could well be that you are wrong here. Save yourself and us the time and go to a shop and buy a Behringer controller if it has to be cheap. They really have good value for the buck, they have a printed manual and a phone number where you can get demanding when something doesn´t work. If you´re not willing to get at least to the surface of electronics and programming, don´t build a MidiBox! Or first build some running LED or AM radio kits from Conrad/RadioShack/..., there you get IKEA-like descriptions with drawings for every single step... I´m sorry if this post gets a bit off the otherwise very friendly style of this forum, but "the tone makes the music"! I´m sure few people are willing to spend time to help people who are not ready to switch on their brains and read the EXISTING docs that are there BEFORE complaining. This is not meant to turn off people with seemingly simple questions - everyone was at the beginning some time, everyone has different electronics/IT background, we´re here together to learn from each other. But some healthy attitude is needed for this project to work - noone gets rich from being here, so you can´t expect everything pre-chewed... just my (way to many, thanks for reading this far ;) ) cents. Seppoman

Hi Smash, I wasn´t thinking of earpieces - I wouldn´t like to put earpieces into my ears that had been worn by dozends of strangers before :o But the IEM receivers normally have 3.5 mm mini jacks so you can connect a normal headphone. Quality - if our Prof. can get IEM systems at all, they´ll probably be the ones for $1k+ :) until now he often managed talking companies into borrowing us e.g. HDR systems for $20k+ - he´s very talented in these things ;) I will email the PopKomm fair management about this - they´d have to permit these transmissions in the first place. We just started working on this. The whole thing will be realized with Max/MSP/Jitter. Yesterday we programmed a rudimentary color space tracking. One problem is latency - even without any other tasks running we had about 300ms using a miniDV with a 1.3 GHz G4 Mac. Another question is how to uniquely identify the visitors. I thought of using 2 pulsed IR LEDs per headphone. With an IR filter before a DV cam you can have a black image with only the LEDs visible and the pulse frequency could be identified. Problem is: strong IR LEDs need a lot of current (ca 100mA) and are very directional, so if the visitor looks downwards the cam doesn´t get the IR signal. So I´ll try strong normal (colored) LEDs next, perhaps using some diffusor in front of them. Color combinations would be used for identification. As you can see, we´re still at the beginning ;) Cheers, Seppoman

Hi Roger, Smash, today I talked to one of our professors about getting IEM systems. He has quite good industry contacts everywhere through his work in the VDT (german Tonmeister Asociation). He will contact Sennheiser about this issue, but said it will be difficult to get so many systems because of their price and fragility. The idea about FM transmitters is interesting, but I doubt we´d get permission to use them. The PopKomm is a large fair of the entertainment industry and I suspect some neighbours could get angry if we transmit on non-specialized frequencies. Also, the quality of cheap jogging radio headsets will probably not be sufficient - after all, we´re studying Audio Engineering so the audio quality of our presentation is important. Thanks a lot for your input :) Seppoman

Hi all, as a university project we´re developing a small multimedia "adventure park" for next year´s PopKomm fair in Berlin. Visitors should get wireless headphones and will be tracked with a MAX/MSP/Jitter system. for the system to be really interactive we´re searching a way to send each visitor his own dedicated audio signal. I found out that most In-Ear-Monitoring systems provide up to 16 selectable channels, but the problem is that we have a tight budget, and a system for 10 visitors would be too expensive. Normal consumer headphone systems all have only 3 channels, which is too few. Does anyone know a system that can transmit at least 6, better 10 independent stereo mixes to different wireless headphones and does cost max. 100 Eur/$ per set? Or is there a place/forum that would be a good place for this question? Any hint is appreciated :) Seppoman

Hi atomsize, don´t throw away the SID yet. If the FIIIIII [...] is not very loud: The SID chip makes this noise as long as it is not initialized. Perhaps you´ve got another connection problem - check the connection between core and sid module. Is the cable built like in the new docs? for MIOS 1.7 some pins are connected differently than for older MIOSses. Seppoman

Hi all, is it possible to modify the (CS) WT editor that changes are not directly saved into the EEPROM? It would be more convenient not having to first copy a patch to another location before playing around in the editor. I regularly destroy patches with it ;) Seppoman

I bought some C64s recently. There were different PSUs, also in different housings, and they sometimes have the second 5V line on the other side. So it is quite irrelevant if the schematic shows the plug or the connector as both can be the right answer... If you look on the C64 main board you´ll notice the two pins beside the center pin are connected to the same PCB line - the easiest solution would be to also do this on your PSU board. Use your multimeter - first check if you really got 5V from the PSU jack, then check if you got the 5V also on the connection to the core module. If you haven´t made any shorts on the PSU board and you´ve double checked the wiring on the PSU board I suppose you don´t have 5V from the start (the Jack, see above). I don´t think the problem is on the core module - if 5V go in, there must be at least some point where you can also measure them... If you´re unsure about your PSU cirquit you can also take out the 5V connections to the regulator for testing. The rest is just a connection from the PSU jack to the core with the two caps inbetween, so there won´t be much posiibilities to do anything wrong. No, the connection between core and SID is only for data when you use the PSU optimized solution. The core must always run on its own. Hope this helps, Seppoman

I bought some C64s recently. There were different PSUs, also in different housings, and they sometimes have the second 5V line on the other side. So it is quite irrelevant if the schematic shows the plug or the connector as both can be the right answer... If you look on the C64 main board you´ll notice the two pins beside the center pin are connected to the same PCB line - the easiest solution would be to also do this on your PSU board. Use your multimeter - first check if you really got 5V from the PSU jack, then check if you got the 5V also on the connection to the core module. If you haven´t made any shorts on the PSU board and you´ve double checked the wiring on the PSU board I suppose you don´t have 5V from the start (the Jack, see above). I don´t think the problem is on the core module - if 5V go in, there must be at least some point where you can also measure them... If you´re unsure about your PSU cirquit you can also take out the 5V connections to the regulator for testing. The rest is just a connection from the PSU jack to the core with the two caps inbetween, so there won´t be much posiibilities to do anything wrong. No, the connection between core and SID is only for data when you use the PSU optimized solution. The core must always run on its own. Hope this helps, Seppoman

Hi, findet man u.A. hier im Forum in Thorstens User-Profil, z.B. wenn Du auf der Startseite seinen Namen neben "Moderator" anklickst: tk@midibox.org Seppoman

Hi, findet man u.A. hier im Forum in Thorstens User-Profil, z.B. wenn Du auf der Startseite seinen Namen neben "Moderator" anklickst: tk@midibox.org Seppoman

Hi, "requesten" mußt Du das bei Thorsten. Der ist allerdings momentan mit Umzug etc. beschäftigt und Midibox-mäßig nur begrenzt ansprechbar. Schreib ihm einfach mal ne eMail. Seppoman